| Japan is 'shocked' and furious at the US after a major coronavirus outbreak at 2 Marine bases in Okinawa — and says the US is not taking the virus seriously Posted: 12 Jul 2020 04:12 AM PDT  "We now have strong doubts that the US military has taken adequate disease prevention measures," Okinawa governor Denny Tamaki said.
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| Disney World Reopens with Short Lines and Scared Staff, as Florida COVID-19 Cases Spike Posted: 11 Jul 2020 01:06 PM PDT  Take a gander at any of the public social media groups for enthusiasts of Orlando, Florida's Walt Disney World and you'll find a common refrain: the theme park, which reopened on Friday amid a COVID-19 catastrophe, has super-short lines for all its top roller coasters right now.What Disney World Staff Fear Most as It Barrels Toward ReopeningDisney World closed in mid-March, when COVID-19 cases began sweeping the country. Then on Friday, the same day Florida reported its largest single-day increase in the virus and the first day the U.S. reported more than 70,000 cases, Disney World reopened its gates.The reopening also comes one day after unionized Disney staff lobbied, unsuccessfully for COVID-19 testing. The result, say Disney megafans who visited on reopening day, is a weirdly empty park.Distanced Disney rules, some fans say."Ummm Disney, can you be like this all the time!??" one person posted in a public Disney group, alongside pictures of virtually non-existent lines for popular rides."Walking onto every ride with 5 mins wait if that!" another wrote. "I wish everyday was like that."Some shared wait-time maps of Disney World's Animal Kingdom, which showed 5-minute waits on all major attractions. Others commented that plague-Disney was a great way to see the park "without the crowds" and expressed amazement that Disney World's typically in-demand tickets were so readily available for the rest of 2020.Some of the emptiness is the result of Disney World's safety measures as COVID-19 cases see a frightening surge in Florida. Face masks are required in the park (although not elsewhere in Florida), and visitors will have their temperatures checked before entering. Although Disney-goers could previously travel between the theme park's distinct sections (like Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom), inter-park travel is now limited. Disney World has also changed its programming, eliminating large parades and fireworks shows to discourage large crowds.Still, questions abound about whether the parks will be able to avoid COVID-19, especially for employees who work there full-time. A recent Disney World promotional video might have accidentally inspired more fears than it soothed. The unsettling video, which featured masked Disney workers saying "welcome home" is "the scariest thing I've seen in weeks," an NPR host noted on Twitter.Some 100,000 Disney World employees have been furloughed since April. The precarious employment adds to pre-existing economic strain for park workers, some of whom already experience food scarcity and sleep in their cars, New York magazine noted.Some Disney World employees aren't returning at all after they demanded more routine COVID-19 testing. The Actors' Equity Association, which represents some of Disney World's character actors, released a statement on June 25, saying it was "unclear how Disney World can responsibly move toward reopening" with COVID-19 cases spiking in Florida."For weeks, we have made it clear to Disney that testing is a fundamental part of maintaining a safe and healthy environment for everyone, from the guests to the cast," Mary McColl, the union's executive director, said in the June 25 statement. "It is deeply disturbing that while coronavirus cases in Florida surge, Disney is refusing to provide regular testing to one of the few groups of workers in the park who by the very nature of their jobs, cannot use personal protective equipment. Now is the time for Disney to pause, focus on the science and put the safety of their actors and stage managers first by making regular testing available."The following day, Disney rescinded its re-employment call for workers represented by the Actors' Equity Association. The union has since filed a grievance with Disney World, accusing it of "retaliat[ing] against workers fighting for a safe workplace during this pandemic."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Bosnia Muslims mourn their dead 25 years after Srebrenica massacre Posted: 11 Jul 2020 03:00 PM PDT  Bosnian Muslims marked the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre on Saturday, the worst atrocity on European soil since World War II, with the memorial ceremony sharply reduced as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Many mourners braved the tighter restrictions put in place to stem the spread of COVID-19 to attend the commemorations which culminated in a ceremony laying to rest the remains of nine victims identified over the past year. On July 11, 1995, after capturing Srebrenica, Serb forces killed more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in a few days.
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| U.S. warns citizens of heightened detention risks in China Posted: 11 Jul 2020 06:27 AM PDT  The U.S. State Department warned American citizens on Saturday to "exercise increased caution" in China due to heightened risk of arbitrary law enforcement including detention and a ban from exiting the country. "U.S. citizens may be detained without access to U.S. consular services or information about their alleged crime," the State Department said in a security alert issued to its citizens in China, adding that U.S. citizens may face "prolonged interrogations and extended detention" for reasons related to state security. "Security personnel may detain and/or deport U.S. citizens for sending private electronic messages critical of the Chinese government," it added, without citing specific examples.
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| Couple who threatened Black Lives Matter protesters with guns once destroyed children's beehives Posted: 12 Jul 2020 02:14 PM PDT  St. Louis couple Mark and Patricia McCloskey drew national attention in June when they flashed guns at Black Lives Matter protesters walking down their street.
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| South Africa re-imposes curfew, booze ban as coronavirus cases spike Posted: 12 Jul 2020 01:30 PM PDT  Coronavirus infection numbers had in recent days skyrocketed with at least 12,000 infections recorded daily, translating to around 500 infections every hour, severely straining health care resources. "As we head towards the peak of infections, it is vital that we do not burden our clinics and hospitals with alcohol-related injuries that could have been avoided," Ramaphosa said in a televised address to the nation. "We have therefore decided that in order to conserve hospital capacity, the sale, dispensing and distribution of alcohol will be suspended with immediate effect," Ramaphosa said.
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| New tropical system brewing in the East Pacific Posted: 12 Jul 2020 10:35 AM PDT  While Cristina continues to weaken as the the storm approaches the Central Pacific, AccuWeather meteorologists will be monitoring a new area of disturbed weather for tropical development this week.A broad area of low pressure is moving off the southern coast of Mexico over the warm waters of the East Pacific Ocean. "This disturbance will likely become the next tropical depression or storm over the next day or two as it continues to move westward into a more favorable environment," stated AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Rob Miller.While this feature is expected to become more organized through the beginning of the week, there is one thing that will keep it from rapidly strengthening.CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APPAccording to Miller, this disturbance is expected to encounter vertical wind shear, or the change in direction and speed of wind at increasing heights in the atmosphere. As a result, development may be slow to occur over the next couple of days as the system moves away from any major landmass."A depression could form as early as Monday, but a better chance for development will occur Tuesday or Wednesday as the system moves into an environment with less wind shear," added Miller. This satellite image of the East Pacific, captured on Sunday morning, local time, shows Cristina, the spiral of clouds over the open ocean, as well as the tropical disturbance producing showers and thunderstorms near southern Mexico. (Photo/RAMMB) The next system to reach tropical storm status, which is maximum sustained winds of at least 74 mph, in the East Pacific Basin would be given the name Douglas.While this feature is not expected to directly impact land, it can still increase rough surf and the risk for rip currents along the southern coast of Mexico this week.Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Cristina continues to spin farther west in the East Pacific Basin.Cristina developed late Monday night and has since moved into an area of cooler ocean water as it continues to track west toward the Central Pacific. "Cristina became a strong tropical storm with sustained winds of 70 mph last Thursday through Friday. Since then, Cristina has lost much of its wind intensity," stated Miller.Cristina will not pose a direct threat to any land, but forecasters will continue to monitor the potential for impacts to the Hawaiian Islands late this week."At this time, moisture from Cristina is forecast to pass north of Hawaii during the latter part of the week," said AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski. "However, there is potential for this moisture to sink farther south, which could bring showers to the islands."Once in a while, these features can hold together for thousands of miles or long enough to bring showers, thunderstorms and rough seas to Hawaii."The waters east of Hawaii are cooler than waters south and west of Central America, and this tends to cause most tropical systems to weaken and/or fall apart before reaching Hawaii," Kottlowski stated."Generally, we start to look for significant impacts by tropical systems on Hawaii around August or so, when waters have warmed up and less wind shear is present," he explained.During July 2019, Hurricane Barbara passed about 120 miles south of Hawaii on July 8. In August 2019, Erick passed just south of the Big Island on Aug. 4 as a tropical storm, while Flossie passed just north of the islands as a depression on Aug. 6.Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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| City mulls razing site where 1st Alaska flag flew Posted: 12 Jul 2020 07:48 AM PDT  The fate of one of Alaska's most historic yet neglected structures could be decided Monday as city officials in Seward weigh whether to demolish a former Methodist boarding school where the Alaska territorial flag was first flown almost a century ago and where its Alaska Native designer lived. Benny Benson was among the orphans and displaced children who lived at the Jesse Lee Home, many of whom were sent there after the Spanish flu devastated Alaska Native villages.
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| As coronavirus cases climb, Trump says states with an uptick in cases are 'going to be fine' and will be back to normal 'very quickly' Posted: 11 Jul 2020 09:52 AM PDT  Coronavirus deaths are once again on the rise amid a surge of confirmed cases in states like Arizona, California, Texas, and Florida.
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| US Surgeon General Jerome Adams says the US can turn coronavirus around in '2 or 3 weeks if everyone does their part' Posted: 12 Jul 2020 09:15 AM PDT  Adams compared his past advice against buying and wearing masks to doctors who prescribed "leeches and cocaine and heroin for people as medical treatments" before they learned more.
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| Here’s How Black Power Finally Prevailed in Mississippi State Flag Fight Posted: 11 Jul 2020 01:59 AM PDT  After many years demanding the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the state flag, Black Mississippians received their wish when a bill doing that was signed into law last week. Just as the state flag had served as a symbol of white supremacy for 126 years, beginning nearly 30 years after the Confederacy's defeat, the lowering of the flag for the final time by a Black man symbolized Black Power. By the state's own admission, the Mississippi state flag was rooted in white supremacy. Mississippi's Declaration of the Immediate Causes which Induce and Justify the Secession of the State of Mississippi from the Federal Union clearly states that "our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery." To enslave a race of people inherently means the perception of superiority by the oppressive race. Both Men Were Innocent But They Were From MississippiWinston Churchill once stated that "the further backward you look, the further forward you can see." There is also an African proverb that states, "as long as you speak my name I shall live forever." To fully understand the role of Black Power in bringing down the flag, it is important to look back in history and recognize those individuals who dedicated most of their lives to fighting for social justice. Civil rights stalwarts like Medgar Wiley Evers, who literally laid down his life in the fight for social justice, and Fannie Lou Hamer, who worked tirelessly despite her admission of being "sick and tired of being sick and tired," were instrumental in spurring activism and inspiring those who continued the fight for justice.Among those who continued that fight were Dr. Ollye Shirley, a former president of the Jackson Public School Board. As president, she helped stage one of the first successful efforts to remove a Confederate battle flag in the state when she led the Board in voting to eliminate the flag from a majority-white high school. Despite threats from white supremacists, she urged administrators to remove the flag peacefully, or she would "snatch it down" herself. Using an unconventional political strategy, community activists like NAACP members Mrs. Delores Orey and Mrs. Ineva May-Pittman pressured a local shopping mall to stop flying the state flag by repeatedly calling and disguising their voices, so it appeared numerous customers objected to it. State Senator Henry Kirksey served as one of the first advocates for the removal of what he called the "Confederate slave flag," teaming up with voting rights attorneys to challenge vote dilutive mechanisms put in place by white legislators immediately following the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As a result of his efforts, today Mississippi has the largest number of Black elected officials in the nation—which proved to be the deciding factor in the removal of the flag. Dr. Aaron Henry, then president of the Mississippi branch of the NAACP, joined forces with members of the legislative black caucus and other local activists to file a lawsuit to remove the flag in 1993. This lawsuit led to a 2001 referendum to remove the flag, which voters rejected. Building on those efforts, the final push came from the Black power derived from the Black Lives Matter movement in response to uprisings following the death of George Floyd. These protests put pressure on corporations, universities, athletic entities and clergy to coerce Mississippians to remove the flag. Kylin Hill, a Black football player at Mississippi State University, may have made the biggest impact when he used his power as a star athlete to post a tweet threatening to leave the University if the flag was not removed. That led to last week's vote. Black legislators now constitute 33 percent and 27 percent of the state's House and Senate, respectively. But because of racial polarization—all of the state's Black lawmakers are Democrats while Whites are overwhelmingly Republicans—Black legislators rarely achieve political success. Arguably, the most important vote to remove the flag occurred in the Senate. First, 11 Black senators and one white senator introduced a bill to remove the flag. Because of when the bill was introduced, a two-thirds vote was needed to suspend the rules and accept it. That happened because Blacks wielded political power by voting as a bloc. An alternative to the Black Power narrative is the storyline of white legislators crossing the partisan aisle, despite opposition by their constituents. For example, Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hoseman had a change of heart and supported the removal of the flag. Yet when the bill to do that was introduced, he assigned it to the seldom-used state constitution committee rather than the rules committee where it had some support in what appeared to be an effort to derail the legislation he said he supported. For the last 17 years, including in March of this year, members of the Legislative Black Caucus have annually introduced bills to remove the flag. These bills were dead on arrival, as they never emerged out of the assigned committees. To be sure, the speaker of the House, Phillip Gunn, publicly denounced the state flag following the brutal killings of Black parishioners in Charleston, South Carolina, by a self-proclaimed white supremacist who was pictured with a Confederate battle flag. In his denouncement he pointed to his Christian faith. That commitment diminished during the following legislative session. The term Black Power was coined in Mississippi during the 1966 March Against Fear initiated by James Meredith. Just as that march ended at the state capitol, so did the life of the state flag.Your Confederacy Is Burning. It's About Time.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Coronavirus: Florida sets new state daily case record of 15,299 Posted: 12 Jul 2020 01:00 PM PDT  A 24-hour tally of 15,299 new coronavirus cases eclipses the worst rates seen in New York in April.
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| Giant protests in Russia after popular governor's arrest Posted: 11 Jul 2020 06:06 AM PDT  At least 10,000 protesters marched through the eastern Russian city of Khabarovsk Saturday in support of a popular local governor arrested this week for allegedly ordering several murders. A court in Moscow on Friday ruled to hold 50-year-old Sergei Furgal for two months pending trial for the murders of several businessmen 15 years ago. Furgal's nationalist Liberal-Democratic Party has thrown its weight behind the governor, and on Saturday said "35,000 people came out to the streets" in Khabarovsk to protest his arrest.
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| U.S. weighs limited options to deal with China over Hong Kong: WSJ Posted: 12 Jul 2020 02:09 PM PDT  Steps against Hong Kong's financial system risk hurting U.S., Western and Hong Kong companies and consumers, according to the report https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-weighs-limited-options-to-punish-china-over-hong-kong-11594576800?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=10, citing U.S. officials and analysts. Measures like more targeted sanctions against Chinese officials and trade moves against products made in Hong Kong would have little impact on Beijing's integration of the city into the mainland's political and security system, the Journal added. On Thursday, Trump administration officials discussed Hong Kong plans in a White House meeting, people familiar with the gathering told the Journal.
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| Victory to the Sioux: Proud tribe defeats major oil firm backed by Trump Posted: 11 Jul 2020 10:11 AM PDT  LaDonna Brave Bull Allard grins broadly as she contemplates the significance of the victory she and other members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe have just secured. The tribe began a bitter battle against an oil company and the federal government in 2016, when the Dakota Access pipeline was built on their doorstep, threatening their water supply. Four years on, a US court has ruled in favour of the tribe and ordered the pipeline to close within 30 days. Ms Allard is aware of how momentous an occasion this is. It is not often that a Native American tribe with scant resources defeats a major oil company, not least one that has the backing of the US president. For the tribal elder, the court ruling is recognition of her people's sovereignty over land that was stolen from them centuries ago.
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| Spectacular photos capture Neowise, one of the brightest comets in decades Posted: 11 Jul 2020 09:16 AM PDT  Astrophotographers around the world have captured incredible photos of the once-in-a-lifetime celestial event.
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| Iran blames bad communication, alignment for jet shootdown Posted: 12 Jul 2020 03:34 AM PDT  A misaligned missile battery, miscommunication between troops and their commanders and a decision to fire without authorization all led to Iran's Revolutionary Guard shooting down a Ukrainian jetliner in January, killing all 176 people on board, a new report says. The report released late Saturday by Iran's Civil Aviation Organization comes months after the Jan. 8 crash near Tehran. Authorities had initially denied responsibility, only changing course days later after Western nations presented extensive evidence that Iran had shot down the plane.
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| Man reunites with police officer he saved from burning vehicle despite past wrongful arrest Posted: 11 Jul 2020 08:12 AM PDT  A Good Samaritan, with a history of being wrongfully accused by police, has been reunited with an officer he saved from a burning car wreck.Daylan McLee, who is black, had previously spent a year in jail after being falsely accused of pointing a gun at a cop. Mr McLee had also been subject to numerous traffic stops despite not breaking any laws, he told CBS News.
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| The White House Made a List of All the Times Fauci ‘Has Been Wrong’ on the Coronavirus Posted: 11 Jul 2020 06:32 PM PDT  The White House has undertaken behind-the-scenes efforts in recent months to undercut and sideline Dr. Anthony Fauci—even going so far as to compile a list of all the times he "has been wrong on things," according to The Washington Post. After canceling some of his planned TV appearances and keeping him away from the Oval Office, White House officials and President Trump have taken to publicly expressing a loss of confidence in the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and face of the administration's coronavirus task force. The apparent attempts to undermine Fauci come as he continues to counter the president's overly optimistic narrative on the state of the pandemic. Against this backdrop, an unnamed White House official told the Post: "Several White House officials are concerned about the number of times Dr. Fauci has been wrong on things." The official attached a list of incorrect predictions Fauci had made, including his doubts early on that asymptomatic spread would play a large role in transmission and a February assurance that Americans did not need to change their behavior. Like many other public health officials, Fauci said at first that masks were not necessary but recently recommended that they be mandated nationwide. "Dr. Fauci has a good bedside manner with the public but he has been wrong about everything I have ever interacted with him on," Peter Navarro, the president's trade adviser, told the Post in a separate statement. "Now Fauci is saying that a falling mortality rate doesn't matter when it is the single most important statistic to help guide the pace of our economic reopening. So when you ask me if I listen to Dr. Fauci's advice, my answer is only with caution."In recent days, the 79-year-old doctor has offered unsparing assessments of the United States' current situation. In an interview with 538 published Thursday, he was perhaps at his most blunt: "As a country, when you compare us to other countries, I don't think you can say we're doing great. I mean, we're just not." The same day, the commander-in-chief told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview that Fauci was "a nice man, but he's made a lot of mistakes." The two haven't spoken in months, but Fauci has reportedly not complained about that. David Barr, an AIDS activist who knows Fauci, told the Post the doctor has become exasperated that state and local officials aren't listening to experts."Our bigger issue with Fauci is stop critiquing the task force...and try to fix it," another White House official told the Post. The official said Fauci's high approval and trustworthiness ratings have upset the president as his own deteriorate. The White House has also reportedly sought to keep Fauci out of the the public eye. A CBS anchor said last week that the White House has ignored requests to interview Fauci on air since early April, though he has spoken to print and podcast outlets. The White House maintains the authority to approve or deny interview requests for high-profile public officials and granted requests from PBS, CNN, and NBC to speak with the doctor only to cancel them after Fauci disagreed with Trump in a conversation with Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL), according to the Post. The epidemiologist said that Trump's contention of a lower death rate indicating success in tamping down the virus was "a false narrative." He warned against "false complacency." Fauci has also said he'd like to go on Rachel Maddow's show, which routinely critiques the president, a request that was rejected.Trump himself has been wrong on the coronavirus in a laundry list of ways as he's pushed to reopen the country, and going after Fauci is not the only time he has attempted to contravene public health guidelines. He famously told Dr. Deborah Birx, the chief medical adviser on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, to "look into" the injection of bleach and the ingestion of sunlight as possible COVID-19 curatives. He's also pressured the Food and Drug Administration to reinstate its emergency authorization for the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment, as has his former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who said doctors "don't know what they're talking about." Trump himself has said he took the drug despite FDA advisories warning it is unsafe to do so and unlikely to prevent or treat the coronavirus.The president donned a face mask for a Saturday visit to Walter Reed Hospital, one of the first and only times he has done so in public after repeatedly shrugging off their importance in recent weeks and even mocking Joe Biden for wearing one. In Dr. Fauci We TrustRead more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Xu Zhangrun: Outspoken professor freed after six days Posted: 12 Jul 2020 09:49 AM PDT  A friend said constitutional law professor Xu Zhangrun was in good health.
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| Inventor of Israel's Iron Dome seeks coronavirus 'game-changer' Posted: 11 Jul 2020 07:17 PM PDT  Daniel Gold, who led the team that invented Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system, has a history of safeguarding the country against what he identifies as existential threats. With the nation facing surging coronavirus cases amid a pandemic that has triggered unprecedented economic hardship, Gold is trying to replicate his Iron Dome breakthrough in protecting Israel against the virus. Gold, who heads Israel's Defence Research and Development Directorate and holds PhDs in electronic engineering and business management, has become a celebrated figure in the Jewish state.
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| WHO reports record daily increase in global coronavirus cases, up over 230,000 Posted: 12 Jul 2020 09:19 AM PDT  The biggest increases were from the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa, according to a daily report. Global coronavirus cases were approaching 13 million on Sunday, according to a Reuters tally, marking another milestone in the spread of the disease that has killed more than 565,000 people in seven months.
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| Is the US supreme court having a liberal moment? Not on one crucial issue Posted: 11 Jul 2020 03:00 AM PDT  John Roberts sided with the court's liberal bloc in two notable recent cases, but critics say he's no swing voter on voting rightsTo an outside observer, it might seem like the US supreme court is having a liberal moment, mostly thanks to one justice.Chief Justice John Roberts – the court's swing vote – surprised many this term by siding with the court's left-leaning bloc and casting the deciding vote in two of the most high-stakes cases, with rulings that ensured abortion access in Louisiana and rejected Donald Trump's bid to end protections for young undocumented immigrants. He also sided with the liberal justices, and Neil Gorsuch, to expand LGBTQ rights in the workplace and ruled against Trump in a closely watched case over his tax returns.But many court watchers doubt that Roberts, a reliable conservative voice on the supreme court since he joined in 2005, is really moving in the direction of colleagues like Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Sonia Sotomayor."There's absolutely no indication John Roberts has become a moderate or even a liberal," said Jessica Levinson, a constitutional law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.In fact, Roberts has been a critical justice in dismantling fundamental democratic protections in the US around access to the voting booth, which could have profound implications for the 2020 election. Several disputes about voting restrictions amid the Covid-19 pandemic have already reached the supreme court, and many more are expected to in the coming months.One closely watched case, for example, will decide whether nearly three-quarters of a million Floridians with felony convictions can vote in the election. The case is already pending before the court.Richard Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine who specializes in elections, has described Roberts as a "solid fifth vote" against expanding voting rights, along with the four other conservatives on the court."He's no swing voter in these cases, for sure," Hasen wrote in an email.The supreme court is expected to weigh in on voting cases as the United States still struggles with significant inequities in access to the ballot box. Many policies in place today can make it more difficult for young people and minority voters to cast a vote.Over the last decade, Roberts has authored what many understand to be two of the most damaging rulings to voting rights in a generation. In 2013, he wrote the majority opinion in Shelby County v Holder, a decision that gutted a law mean to prevent voting discrimination against minorities. Roberts opined that the kind of racism and voting discrimination that existed in 1965, when the law was originally enacted, has been curbed.> Because of Roberts' ruling, many fear that the next round of redistricting in 2021 will be more extremeLast year, Roberts wrote the majority opinion in another 5-4 case, Rucho v Common Cause, saying that federal courts could do nothing to stop extreme partisan gerrymandering – the practice of grouping voters in certain electoral districts to give one party an advantage over the other in elections.Because of Roberts' ruling, many fear that the next round of redistricting in 2021 will be more extreme, as lawmakers now know they can gerrymander for partisan gain without being sued in federal court. Justice Elena Kagan issued a scathing dissent to the ruling, saying gerrymandering could "irreparably damage our system of government".A handful of voting rights cases that have reached the supreme court this year related to whether limitations on voting should be eased owing to the dislocations of Covid-19, but Roberts has sided in favor of keeping restrictions in place in all of them.Earlier this month, he sided with the court's conservative bloc in a 5-4 decision to allow three counties in Alabama to continue to require voters to provide copies of their voter ID, and to have witnesses or notaries, in order to vote by mail. The supreme court also blocked a lower court's ruling that would have allowed local officials to offer curbside voting, something that could have helped facilitate social distancing at the polls.And in April, hours before the polls opened for a Wisconsin's spring election, Roberts again sided with the court's four conservative justices to uphold several key voting restrictions in the state. The court shortened the deadline by which voters had to put their ballots in the mail to have them counted, even though a surge of mail-in voting was expected owing to the Covid-19 pandemic."The majority resolved the dispute as if we are not living through a once in a lifetime global pandemic and voters are not facing unprecedented challenges in casting ballots," Franita Tolson, a law professor at the University of Southern California who studies elections, wrote in an email. "If that was their posture in April, it is unlikely to change by November."Many of the upcoming cases are likely to deal with restrictions around absentee voting, and on seemingly technical disputes that could have huge practical implications, such as over prepaid postage, ballot receipt deadlines, and signature matching practices. Roberts is unlikely to side with liberal colleagues in such disputes, said Leah Litman, a law professor at the University of Michigan."I see absolutely no chance of that, given his votes in the Wisconsin and Alabama cases, as well as his history in voting rights disputes," she said.Despite Roberts' record on the issue, Deuel Ross, an attorney at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said he was still hopeful the court would recognize the need to expand voting rights owing to the unique obstacles posed by Covid-19."Justice Roberts has not shown himself in the past to be particularly sympathetic to voting rights claims," he said. "My hope is the court will be more sympathetic to those voters who are put it in a really impossible choice between choosing to go to a crowded polling place and having the option to vote at home without having to jump through additional hurdles."
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| Mercedes Schlapp on shrinking Democrat voter registration, Trump's immigration executive order, GOP convention Posted: 12 Jul 2020 06:39 AM PDT  Trump 2020 senior adviser Mercedes Schlapp joins 'Fox & Friends.'
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| Pakistan says 4 troops, 4 militants killed in shootout in NW Posted: 12 Jul 2020 10:10 AM PDT |
| Caribbean countries are selling citizenship for as low as $100,000 — here's how the ultra-wealthy are cashing in to avoid pandemic travel restrictions Posted: 12 Jul 2020 06:13 AM PDT  Travel restrictions on Americans and US passport backlogs have helped fuel demand for secondary passports and citizenship this year.
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| Florida man crashes car into church and sets fire to building with parishioners inside Posted: 12 Jul 2020 07:57 AM PDT  A Florida man was arrested on Saturday after crashing his car into a Catholic church and then setting the building on fire with parishioners still inside, officials said.The Marion County Sheriff's office said that Steven Shields deliberately drove his vehicle through the doors of the Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Ocala at 7.30am as the congregation prepared for Mass.
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| Hong Kong security law: Why we are taking our BNOs and leaving Posted: 12 Jul 2020 05:19 PM PDT  As China enforces new restrictions, some are turning to their British National (Overseas) passport.
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| Fourth day of virus protests in Serbia as virus cases spike Posted: 10 Jul 2020 05:54 PM PDT  Thousands protested for a fourth day Friday across Serbia over the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic as officials condemned the demonstrations and announced a record jump in cases. The protests were held as the Balkan nation announced a record daily death toll from COVID-19. Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said earlier Friday the Balkan state recorded 18 fatalities and 386 new cases over 24 hours in what she described as a "dramatic increase".
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| Lives will be lost as Syria aid access cut, aid agencies warn Posted: 12 Jul 2020 01:15 AM PDT  A U.N. Security Council resolution that leaves only one of two border crossings open for aid deliveries from Turkey into rebel-held northwestern Syria will cost lives and intensify the suffering of 1.3 million people living there, aid agencies said. Western states had pressed for aid access to continue through two crossings at the Turkish border, but Russia, President Bashar al-Assad's main ally in his war against, and China vetoed a last-ditch effort on Friday to keep both open. "In northwest Syria, where a vital cross-border lifeline has been closed ... it will be harder to reach an estimated 1.3 million people dependent on food and medicine delivered by the U.N. cross-border," aid agencies operating in Syria said in a joint statement.
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| Coronavirus can damage the heart, major study finds Posted: 12 Jul 2020 10:25 AM PDT  Coronavirus can damage the heart, with more than half of hospitalised patients revealing abnormal scans, a major new study has found. A survey of 69 countries, funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), found that 55 per cent of 1,261 patients studied had abnormal changes to the way their heart was pumping, with around one in seven showing evidence of severe dysfunction. The majority (901 patients) had never been diagnosed with heart problems before, leading scientists to conclude that Covid-19 itself may seriously affect the heart. Among this group, heart scans were abnormal in 46 per cent of patients and 13 per cent had severe disease. Just over half of all the scans were performed in intensive care, with others carried out on general wards, heart and lung wards and in A&E.; The results follow a number of studies indicating that the virus can cause long-term damage to the brain. Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation and a consultant cardiologist, said: "Severe Covid-19 illness can result in damage to the heart and circulatory system. "We urgently need to understand more about why this is happening so we can provide appropriate care - both short and long term. "This global study - carried out at the height of the pandemic - shows that we must be on the lookout for heart complications in people with Covid-19 so that we can adapt their treatment if needed." The study, published in the European Heart Journal - Cardiovascular Imaging, found the abnormalities were almost evenly split between the left and right chambers of the heart. Some three per cent of patients had suffered a recent heart attack, according to the scans. As a result of their scan, one third of patients had their treatment changed, including being given medicines for heart failure, or more careful control of fluids and therapy designed to support heart function. The study was carried out by researchers from the British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence at the University of Edinburgh. The team cautioned that the study cannot conclude how common heart changes are in people who did not receive scans. They stressed that all patients in the study were in hospital and had suspected heart complications. Professor Marc Dweck, who led the research, said: "Covid-19 is a complex, multi-system disease which can have profound effects on many parts of the body, including the heart. "Many doctors have been hesitant to order echocardiograms for patients with Covid-19 because it's an added procedure which involves close contact with patients. "Our work shows that these scans are important - they improved the treatment for a third of patients who received them. "Damage to the heart is known to occur in severe flu, but we were surprised to see so many patients with damage to their heart with Covid-19 and so many patients with severe dysfunction. "We now need to understand the exact mechanism of this damage, whether it is reversible and what the long-term consequences of Covid-19 infection are on the heart."
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| Jeff Sessions swings back at Trump for 'juvenile insults' as fight for political future looms in Alabama Posted: 11 Jul 2020 01:35 PM PDT  Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions lashed out Saturday at President Donald Trump after his onetime ally launched another salvo ahead of the Republican Senate primary run-off on Tuesday in Alabama. Sessions, whom Trump has derided as "Mr. Magoo," touted himself as a trusted and independent conservative. "My honor and integrity are far more important than these juvenile insults," Sessions ...
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| Shooting of man by Baltimore police highlights 'total failure' of city's behavioral health response, agency says Posted: 11 Jul 2020 03:04 PM PDT  BALTIMORE - After Baltimore police officers shot a man who pulled a firearm while undergoing a behavioral health crisis last week, the organization that oversees the city's behavioral health services called the current system "a total failure" that needs better integration of mental health professionals with the police. There is no indication that police dispatchers attempted to connect ...
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| Arrest Made In Case Of Missing Amish Teenager Posted: 11 Jul 2020 03:03 PM PDT  Linda Stoltzfoos, 18, was last seen June 21.
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| As virus rages in US, New York guards against another rise Posted: 12 Jul 2020 07:39 AM PDT  As coronavirus rages out of control in other parts of the U.S., New York is offering an example after taming the nation's deadliest outbreak this spring — while also trying to prepare in case another surge comes. New York's early experience is a ready-made blueprint for states now finding themselves swamped by the disease. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has offered advice, ventilators, masks, gowns and medicine to states dealing with spikes in cases and hospitalizations and, in some places, rising deaths.
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| Fire ravages 249-year-old Spanish mission in Southern California Posted: 11 Jul 2020 04:56 PM PDT  The San Gabriel Mission was founded in 1771 by Franciscan priest Junipero Serra, who has become a flashpoint for activists denouncing colonialism and systemic racism.
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| When Val Demings Stood by Police Officers Accused of Excessive Force Posted: 11 Jul 2020 04:00 AM PDT  Biden's VP hopeful has billed herself as a reformer, but people who followed her years as Orlando police chief think otherwise.
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| Egypt grounds kites for 'safety', 'national security' Posted: 11 Jul 2020 09:07 AM PDT  Egyptian police have seized kites from people flying them after a ban by a northern governorate for "safety" reasons and a lawmaker's warning they posed a "national security threat". Police seized 369 kites in Cairo on Friday, Al-Ahram reported, while Akhbar Al-Youm, another state newspaper, said police confiscated 99 kites and fined five people in the northern region of Alexandria. Fines imposed for kite-flying in the Mediterranean city can reach up to 1,000 pounds (about $60).
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| Fire breaks out at petrochemical facility in southwest Iran Posted: 12 Jul 2020 11:37 AM PDT |
| British Islamic State fighter 'dies in prison' in Syria Posted: 12 Jul 2020 11:17 AM PDT  A British Islamic State member from East London has died in a prison in northeast Syria, according to the BBC. Ishak Mostefaoui is the first British IS-supporter to die in the custody of the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The British government refuses to allow its adult IS prisoner suspects to return to the UK for trial, believing that they should be tried in the region. The year-long impasse between the Kurdish authorities and the UK, and other Western governments has led to dangerously over-crowded prison and camps of IS members. According to one BBC source, Mostefaoui was shot when trying to escape the custody of the jail in Hassakeh which houses over 5,000 IS prisoners from 28 countries in cramped conditions. Another BBC source said that he died during rioting in the prison. Neither his death nor the circumstances surrounding it have been confirmed. The rumours of Mostefaoui's death appear to be circulating from pro-IS Telegram channels. The 27-year-old from Leyton, who admits to joining IS, travelled to Syria to join the terrorist organisation in April 2014. He was among seven students from the University of Westminster, where he was studying economics, who travelled to Syria. Also among them was Mohammed Emwazi, better known as "Jihadi John". Like many captured IS fighters, Mostefaoui admitted to doing administrative work for the group, but denied being a fighter, when interviewed by the Independent last year. The prison, a converted school, was set up shortly after the last of IS territory, Baghouz, was captured in March 2019. He was one of a handful of the Brits who had travelled to Syria to survive. Mostefaoui told the Independent that he had left Baghouz unconscious after being injured in a US-led coalition airstrike. His wife and children, he says, were killed in the strike and his skull left fractured. His citizenship was revoked by the British government in 2018. Mostefaoui was among an estimated 10 British IS members in the prison in northeast Syria and 30 women. Of the estimated 900 people who left the UK and travelled to Syria, ministers have said that 20 per cent have died, 40 per cent have returned to the UK and 40 per cent are still in the region. It is not clear how these numbers were reached. Mostefaoui, like most other foreign fighters in IS prisons, wanted to be tried in a court at home. "If we go back home, and we get taken to court and we are found guilty of whatever crimes they see as a crime, I'll put my hands up and do my time for that. And I'll go out. This is what democracy is," he told the Independent in December. The British government cites security concerns as the reason for not trying the adult men in the UK. The security situation in the severely overcrowded Hassakeh prison is tense and riots break out frequently. Mostefaoui's family have been settled in London since they left Algeria when he was five years old.
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| Top Democrats react to Trump granting Roger Stone clemency calling it an abuse of power Posted: 10 Jul 2020 08:16 PM PDT  "Through this act, Trump is saying: 'If you lie for me, if you cover up for me, if you obstruct for me, I will protect you,'" Rep. Adam Schiff said.
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| Migrant rescues in Arizona desert exceed 2019 total despite COVID-19 pandemic Posted: 12 Jul 2020 12:48 PM PDT  The number of migrants rescued by Border Patrol agents in the Arizona desert this year has surpassed the total for fiscal year 2019.
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| ‘Disheveled’ campsite spurs search for missing California woman in national forest Posted: 12 Jul 2020 12:22 PM PDT  "She would never leave her campsite a mess. Even a piece of litter on the ground would bother her."
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| US, Chinese ambassadors spar on Twitter in Brazil Posted: 12 Jul 2020 12:07 PM PDT |
| Surgeon charged in scheme to pay addicts to receive experimental implant Posted: 11 Jul 2020 08:27 AM PDT  Dr. Randy Rosen is facing 88 felony charges from the Los Angeles Orange County district attorney, who called him "a real life" Frankenstein.
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| Saudi-led coalition intercepts ballistic rockets, drones launched by Yemen's Houthis: state news agency Posted: 12 Jul 2020 03:50 PM PDT |
